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Salman Rushdie: Hadi Matar pleads not guilty to knife attack

Staff WritersReuters
A man has been charged with attempted murder over the stabbing attack on author Salman Rushdie. (AP PHOTO)
Camera IconA man has been charged with attempted murder over the stabbing attack on author Salman Rushdie. (AP PHOTO) Credit: AP

The man suspected of stabbing Sir Salman Rushdie has entered a not guilty plea in a New York court.

Earlier on Saturday he had been charged with attempted murder and assault and been remanded in custody without bail.

New York state police said on Saturday that 24-year-old Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, was being detained at Chautauqua County Jail.

The 75-year-old Indian-born British author is on a ventilator and may lose an eye and has sustained nerve damage to his arm and damage to his liver following the attack on Friday, his agent has said.

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Sir Salman, whose novel The Satanic Verses led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was about to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, 105 km from Buffalo in New York state, when he was attacked.

He was stabbed at least once in the neck and once in the abdomen, according to police, before he was taken to hospital.

According to the NYT, Sir Salman’s agent Andrew Wylie said he is on a ventilator and unable to speak.

Mr Wylie added the news was “not good” and the author will “likely lose one eye”.

He said the nerves in Sir Salman’s arm were severed in the attack and his liver was “stabbed and damaged”.

Photos from the Associated Press (AP) news agency showed Sir Salman lying on his back with his legs in the air and a first responder crouched over him.

The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims view it as blasphemous, and its publication prompted Iran’s then-leader Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa calling for his death.

The Chautauqua Institution, which was hosting the lecture, tweeted about the incident, writing: “We ask for your prayers for Salman Rushdie and Henry Reese, and patience as we fully focus on co-ordinating with police officials following a tragic incident at the amphitheatre today.”

Sir Salman’s publisher Penguin Random House said they are “deeply shocked and appalled” by the incident.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend”.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said: “Today, the country and the world witnessed a reprehensible attack against the writer Salman Rushdie. This act of violence is appalling.

“All of us in the Biden-Harris administration are praying for his speedy recovery. We are thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping Mr Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for its swift and effective work, which is ongoing.”

Sir Salman was previously president of PEN America, which celebrates free expression and speech, and chief executive Suzanne Nossel condemned the attack.

She tweeted: “PEN America is reeling from shock and horror at word of a brutal, premeditated attack on our former president and stalwart ally, Salman Rushdie.”

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